Generally, small household appliances are thought to be relatively effort free. This is a misconception probably due to the fact that many household appliances such as electric mixers and electric steam irons have greatly reduced the amount of effort required to perform tasks such as mixing or beating food products and ironing clothing as a result of the significant advances over early hand mixers and heavy, solid flatirons. Nevertheless, the fact remains that certain repetitive household tasks require significant muscular effort.
For instance, ironing is a repetitive, time-consuming activity which is known to result in a strain on the deltoid muscle. This occurs because ironing commonly requires the upper arm to be held in a position away from the side of the body. Since this position can be maintained only by utilizing the deltoid muscle, this large triangular muscle in the shoulder region is placed under considerable strain.
Similarly, the use of a conventional mixer places a strain on the deltoid muscle in much the same manner as the iron. The mixer, as with the iron, conventionally utilizes a generally horizontal back and forth motion in which the deltoid muscle is placed under a strain due to the fact that the upper arm is elevated. Moreover, this phenomenon is consistent with reference findings (see, e.g., Basmajian and Deluca, Muscles Alive, Their Functions Revealed By Electromyography, Page 269).
Moreover, in the case of both ironing and mixing, the act of heeling the iron or mixer, i.e., positioning the iron or mixer in a nearly vertical position on the heel when not in use, requires a strenuous movement. It is also the case with both irons and electric mixers that the shape of the small appliance combined with the position of the work surface relative to the eyes of the user result in relatively poor visibility of the work area. Additionally, while the discussion has been focused upon irons and mixers, it will be appreciated that the problem of muscular exertion and/or strain is known to exist with other small appliances, as well.
With regard to the problem of muscular exertion in the use of small appliances such as those found in the home, it is important to note that such appliances are normally designed to require a minimum of effort. Specifically, in the case of both electric irons and electric mixers, as with other small appliances that are otherwise thought to be relatively effort free, the appliance itself is designed to do most of the work. Normally, it is thought necessary to provide only a slight amount of movement of the appliance by the user and certainly with only a small amount of muscular exertion since there is no significant "force" to be applied by the user against the object being worked on by the electric iron or the electric mixer, i.e., clothing or food products, but the inherent limitations in the design of existing electric irons and electric mixers have nevertheless dictated undesirable levels of muscular exertion. Moreover, where the specific work activity, e.g., ironing or mixing, is continued for a considerable period of time, it is well recognized that such activity will result in a strain to the deltoid muscle due to the normal position of the upper arm away from the side of the body. Thus, while small appliances have failed to achieve sufficiently low levels of muscular exertion, they are nevertheless recognized as distinct from power tools and other devices that knowingly require the application of considerable force during operation.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the above stated problems and accomplishing the stated objects by providing a unique appliance handle.